Guy Chester, 248 nautical miles from Southport, sounds like a man who can already picture the dock. "Touch wood — quickly touching the wood in the cockpit — I've got about another 26 hours left in the race," he said. If that estimate holds, his Crowther Design 93 trimaran Oceans Tribute will be alongside on Friday afternoon, Australian time. The race record of 6 days 7 hours 13 minutes, set in this very hull when she raced as Reini Gelder's Shark Angels in 2014, is already out of reach. Chester's projected elapsed time of a little over 6 days 17 hours won't touch it. He's been battling 26 to 30 knots to windward, nursing a boat he has sailed across the world's oceans three times, and he is nearly there. "It's very wet. Cheers."
Solo Trans-Tasman organisers posted the Southport finish line map on social media this afternoon, calling for spectators to come and watch the exhausted, sore sailors arrive. Oceans Tribute is expected first across, with a predicted finish line crossing early on Saturday morning.
Further back, Vixen Racing has found some pace since this morning and sits 335 NM from the finish, with a projected crossing during the dark hours of 6 June. James Foster's Mumby 48 catamaran Electron lies 42 NM behind that at 377 NM. Time it right and Foster arrives in Southport with the light.
| Pos | Boat | Class | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Est Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 248 NM | 1201 NM | 7.2 kts | 90 NM | 6 Jun 05:39 | 6d 17h 39m 40s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 335 NM | 1043 NM | 6.5 kts | 76 NM | 6 Jun 22:41 | 7d 10h 35m 11s |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 377 NM | 990 NM | 6.1 kts | 70 NM | 7 Jun 08:17 | 7d 20h 17m 39s |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 407 NM | 866 NM | 5.9 kts | 91 NM | 7 Jun 15:50 | 8d 3h 50m 4s |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 427 NM | 851 NM | 5.8 kts | 85 NM | 7 Jun 21:06 | 8d 9h 0m 58s |
| 6 | Roaring Forty | Monohull | 427 NM | 805 NM | 5.8 kts | 110 NM | 7 Jun 21:14 | 8d 9h 8m 31s |
| 7 | Camellia | Monohull | 541 NM | 665 NM | 4.9 kts | 114 NM | 9 Jun 10:27 | 9d 22h 21m 21s |
| 8 | Catnip | Monohull | 549 NM | 676 NM | 4.8 kts | 114 NM | 9 Jun 13:25 | 10d 1h 19m 42s |
| 9 | Nautilass | Monohull | 580 NM | 673 NM | 4.6 kts | 88 NM | 10 Jun 02:24 | 10d 14h 18m 7s |
| 10 | Smoko | Monohull | 629 NM | 568 NM | 4.2 kts | 102 NM | 11 Jun 02:19 | 11d 14h 13m 45s |
| 11 | Diablo | Monohull | 637 NM | 588 NM | 4.1 kts | 95 NM | 11 Jun 06:06 | 11d 18h 0m 29s |
| 12 | Fair Seasons | Monohull | 698 NM | 543 NM | 3.6 kts | 123 NM | 12 Jun 19:59 | 13d 7h 53m 57s |
| — | Wave (retired — returning to NZ) | Monohull | Rounding North Cape | |||||
| — | Pretty Boy Floyd (retired — safely back in Opua) | Monohull | — | |||||
| — | Robbery (retired — safely in Mangōnui) | Monohull | — | |||||
Provisional results. Last position update: 4 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue.
Malcolm Dickson's 55-foot Sarau and Peter Elkington's Young 11 Pacman hold fourth and fifth on line honours at 407 and 427 NM to the finish respectively. Kevin Le Poideven's Open 40 Roaring Forty has drawn level with Pacman on distance to finish, both at 427 NM, after posting one of the best 24-hour DMG figures in the fleet at 110 NM. He's been having quite a day. The morning began gently enough, a spa session of coffee, Jetboil and an hour of calm, before he rigged the Jib Top for extra sail area and drove beautifully at 9 to 10 knots. Then the breeze hit 30 knots, the furler lock pin apparently broke, the sail unfurled before the clutches could close, and chaos followed. "Finally furled and stowed and ready for the next deployment." Thirty minutes later, rinse and repeat. "This time I lunch — Nasi Goreng."
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau | 0.798 | 407 NM | 866 NM | 5.9 kts | 91 NM | 7 Jun 15:50 | 6d 12h 16m 33s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | 0.941 | 335 NM | 1043 NM | 6.5 kts | 76 NM | 6 Jun 22:41 | 7d 0h 2m 59s |
| 3 | Camellia | 0.706 | 541 NM | 665 NM | 4.9 kts | 114 NM | 9 Jun 10:27 | 7d 0h 16m 45s |
| 4 | Pacman | 0.840 | 427 NM | 851 NM | 5.8 kts | 85 NM | 7 Jun 21:06 | 7d 0h 51m 13s |
| 5 | Roaring Forty | 0.919 | 427 NM | 805 NM | 5.8 kts | 110 NM | 7 Jun 21:14 | 7d 16h 50m 58s |
| 6 | Diablo | 0.660 | 637 NM | 588 NM | 4.1 kts | 95 NM | 11 Jun 06:06 | 7d 18h 7m 31s |
| 7 | Smoko | 0.685 | 629 NM | 568 NM | 4.2 kts | 102 NM | 11 Jun 02:19 | 7d 22h 35m 13s |
| 8 | Catnip | 0.851 | 549 NM | 676 NM | 4.8 kts | 114 NM | 9 Jun 13:25 | 8d 13h 22m 13s |
| 9 | Nautilass | 0.824 | 580 NM | 673 NM | 4.6 kts | 88 NM | 10 Jun 02:24 | 8d 17h 32m 41s |
| 10 | Fair Seasons | 0.696 | 698 NM | 543 NM | 3.6 kts | 123 NM | 12 Jun 19:59 | 9d 6h 38m 59s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 4 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Four distinct groupings show up clearly on the tracker. Oceans Tribute sits alone out front. Vixen Racing follows at some distance, with a gap before Electron, then Sarau, Pacman and Roaring Forty in a loose second cluster, all pressing into strengthening south-easterlies off the Australian coast. A third group, comprising Ben Ball's Cavalier 36 Camellia, Geoff Thorn's Beneteau First 45 Catnip and Terry Dunn's Nautilass, sits within 39 NM of one another at 541, 549 and 580 NM to the finish. Further back still, Peter Nobbs' B&G 36 Smoko and Peter Bourke's S&S Diablo trail the field, with Doug Esterman's Cavalier 39 Fair Seasons alone at the rear at 698 NM, all three yet to pass the halfway mark.
The standout development on the PHRF corrected time standings is Camellia climbing to third overall at 7 days 0 hours 16 minutes, just 14 minutes behind Vixen Racing's 7 days 0 hours 2 minutes. Ball has had a strong run and currently enjoys kinder conditions, with his 0.706 handicap doing the work. Pacman sits fourth at 7 days 0 hours 51 minutes, leaving all three boats covered by under an hour on corrected elapsed time. Sarau leads the division at 6 days 12 hours 16 minutes, a comfortable 11-hour buffer ahead of the fleet.
On the NZ Multihull Handicap, Electron leads Oceans Tribute by a little over five hours, 6 days 6 hours 26 minutes against 6 days 11 hours 40 minutes. Chester is projected to finish well ahead of Foster on elapsed time, but the rating mathematics still favour Foster's catamaran.
| Pos | Boat | Class | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electron | Catamaran | 0.799 | 377 NM | 990 NM | 6.1 kts | 70 NM | 7 Jun 08:17 | 6d 6h 26m 49s |
| 2 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 0.963 | 248 NM | 1201 NM | 7.2 kts | 90 NM | 6 Jun 05:39 | 6d 11h 40m 47s |
Provisional results. NZ Multihull Yacht Club handicap system. Last position update: 4 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Away from the racing, Yachting New Zealand has published an account of Graeme Francis' ordeal aboard his Wilson 36 Robbery, now safely in Mangōnui. Francis spent a night keeping Robbery afloat after the boat began taking on water about 100 kilometres north of North Cape. The first commercial tanker reached the stricken yacht at about 11pm on Sunday, but the seas were running too rough for boarding either vessel safely. His one-liner to Yachting NZ: "At one stage I thought, 'this is getting a little bit real now.'" Unfortunately, the 2026 edition of the Challenge might be his last Solo Trans-Tasman start.
Glen Jeffery is making steady progress home aboard his Grand Soleil 50 Wave, now rounding North Cape. He checked in from the water earlier in the day: "Just now we are back up to 8-9 knots [heading] back towards New Zealand." He's experienced a broken furler, a failed autopilot, an alternator belt swap, and more besides, but he reports it's all going well.
